5 Brand Names That We Use As Regular Nouns
We use certain brands so regularly that their names have become part of the language! These "proprietary eponyms" - words we associate with a particular company's product - are often the go-to terms for their respective items.
In this lesson we will:
- Learn the meaning and pronunciation of 5 of the most common American proprietary eponyms
- Practice in common phrases
- Practice in longer sentences
Velcro: hook and loop fasteners - The Velcro is in my sewing box.
Frisbee: a flying plastic disk used for various catching games - Darren caught the Frisbee.
Dumpster: a large trash receptacle designed to be hoisted and emptied into a truck- Throw it in the dumpster.
Ping Pong: table tennis - There’s a Ping Pong table in the game room. (Be sure to practice the contraction “there’s” here. Don’t say “there is.” In spoken English, we use contractions more often than the full form of the phrase. Written English is different.)
Styrofoam: From Wikipedia: Styrofoam is a trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), commonly called "Blue Board" - Don’t put Styrofoam containers in the microwave.
